I had a visit to the podiatrist this morning to talk about heel pain. Six months, two steroid injections, buckets of ice, tubs of ibuprofen, one loud "pop," and ongoing nagging pain that gets worse, not better.
It was a good visit: an informative discussion about short-term plans (summit Mt. Adams in three weeks) and long-term goals (return to running, pain-free). Dr. Huppin says both should be fine, and that the healing begins with a week in a charming rocker-bottom boot to let my plantar fascia--presumed to be partially-torn, that was the "pop"--rest.
The idea of training for a climb to twelve-thousand feet while resting in a foot immobilizer is a little hard to get my head around, but I'm okay with paradox. I'll just wear the boot when I can (like when I'm not riding, swimming, driving...).
In a week, I'll ditch the boot and do some more serious training: stairs, hills, mountains, along with ice, ibuprofen, and lots of tape.
In three weeks, I'll do the climb, put myself back in the boot (for one, two...three weeks?), and get fitted for new orthotics that I can use for running. My current orthotics are, it seems, not overcoming my tendency to pronate.And it will take a long time, I thin, to return to running. My partially-torn plantar fascia will get better, and I'll get back to running (so I can mess with my knees and back), but I may need to exercise something like patience.
Funny concept.
